Art, Human Computer Interaction, and Shared Experiences: A Gun Violence Prevention Intervention

This extended abstract describes the technology enabled, social justice intervention of the National Youth Art Movement Against Gun Violence (NYAM) project. NYAM launched its first intervention in Chicago in 2017 in response to escalating rates of gun violence. NYAM empowers youth to use their intrinsic motivations to create artwork that unpacks the deeply layered ways in which violence affects living in Chicago uniquely for each of them. Guided by the composite framework of Transformative Activist Stance (TAS) and a social justice orientation to interaction design, NYAM placed these artworks on billboards in public spaces and enabled them with GPS and Augmented Reality technologies to create unexpected experiences that encouraged participation in gun violence prevention. The current phase of the project was co-developed by an education technology researcher and practitioner, an ethnically and age diverse range of Chicago youth, a local grassroots technology startup, and members of the city's art community.